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The Harvey boys hosted the Huguenots from New Rochelle High School in a rugby match Friday, April 25 under perfect weather conditions. The two teams battled throughout, but the visiting Huguenots prevailed 45-19.

The match started off well for Harvey with a solid kickoff return by Armando Flores, who had a 14-meter run. Unfortunately, his offload was ill-advised, and the subsequent turnover would be the first of many in the afternoon, which gave New Rochelle far too many opportunities on offense.

In the 7th minute, New Rochelle found points through the Harvey defense to take a seven-point lead. In the 16th minute, Harvey regrouped and had the ball on the New Rochelle try line following a Jordan Falk run, a successful lineout, and several solid phases. A questionable lost ruck turnover led to a 95-meter New Rochelle break to widen their advantage. Following the kickoff, Harvey’s hard work was rewarded when sophomore flanker Sullivan Wieting stole a ruck and scampered 38 meters for glory. Flores converted, and Harvey trailed 14 to 7. The tide was turning in Harvey’s favor, and the boys kept the pressure on New Rochelle.

In the 27th minute, the Harvey team executed a strong lineout, and the ball found Connor Harrington, who crashed hard, taking out several defenders. Harrington deftly offloaded to Willy Fottrell, who raced toward the try line but was tackled a few meters short. A quick ruck and cleanout had the ball find sophomore fly-half Ben Lawrence-Comerford, who bulled into the try zone for points, and Harvey trailed 14 to 12. Instead of controlling the ball with time running down, the Cavaliers made unforced errors in the 33rd and 35 minutes, gifting points to New Rochelle as halftime arrived. Those late tries gave New Rochelle a 26-12 lead at halftime. 

The second half saw back-and-forth possession until New Rochelle scored in the 43rd minute of play. Harvey controlled the next 10 minutes of play and scrum-half, James Gittleman, found a gap in the New Rochelle ruck defense and ran 45 meters before he was caught. A quick ruck led to a nice feed to Falk, who did the rest as he cut through the defense from 14 meters away for points. Flores converted again to cut the deficit to 33 to 19. Unfortunately, New Rochelle would score twice in the waning minutes to bring the final line to 45 to 19.

“I was pleased with the hard play, rucking, and improved positioning of the team,” said Harvey coach Phil Lazzaro. He said, “The boys are improving but need to learn how to execute under duress and improve on ball retention. Learning how to win takes work, and I am confident in their ability to do so.  A special thanks to my daughter, Aoife, who was volunteered to run touch today as well.”

The Harvey boys travel Friday, May 2 to New Rochelle for the rematch.

 

Harvey vs. New Rochelle

April 25, 2025

Starting XV

1. Armando Flores (10th grade)

2.Grahm Bryant (10)

3. Ryan Geagan (11)

4. Titus Welsh (11)

5. Alvaro Churruca (10)

6. Vishal Thadani (11)

7. Sullivan Wieting (10)

8. Jordan Falk - Field Captain (11)

9. James Gittleman (11)

10. Ben Lawrence-Comerford (10)

11. William Fottrell (8)

12. Connor Harrington (12)

13. Rayce Volpi (10)

14. Charles Engelhardt (11)

15. Henry Burke (9)